National Public Radio apologized for calling illegal immigrants “illegal” after a social justice activist said their reporters should use the term “undocumented people.”
“Sorry, that was a mistake. NPR’s policy is not to characterize people as illegal.’ We slip up from time to time, but we’ll keep working hard to get it right,” NPR tweeted out Friday.
The tweet was in response to activist Brittany Packnett calling for NPR’s anchors and reporters to refrain from using the term “illegal.”
“Hey @npr, I love y’all, but why do I keep hearing some anchors/reporters using the phrase ‘illegal immigrants’ instead of undocumented people? This should be an easy one to get right,” Packnett said.
Sorry, that was a mistake. NPR’s policy is not to characterize people as “illegal.” We slip up from time to time, but we’ll keep working hard to get it right.
— NPR (@NPR) June 28, 2019
Despite saying they do not use the term “illegal immigrants,” NPR still has an active label titled “illegal immigrants.”
The criticism comes after the second part of the first Democratic presidential debate in which everyone on the debate stage said they supported government-provided healthcare for illegal immigrants.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly tried to relabel illegal immigrants referring to them as “newcomers” and admonishing reporters who use the term “illegal.”
“Using terminology like ‘illegal aliens illegally entering the country’ is just not viewed as constructive,” Pelosi told a reporter in 2018.
